Frederick gaston gaschlin



(No Model.)

F. G. GASGHLIN.

" LETTER BOX.

Patented Nov. 3, 1896.

344/0 rad Wow m: Nouns mus cc. Pudruumo. WASHIIHTON. 0. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE;

FREDERICK GASTON GASOHLIN, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR OFONE-THIRD TO JACOB MAAS, OF SAME PLACE.

LETTER-BOX.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 570,628, dated November3, 1896.

Application filed April 17, 1896.

To all whom it may concern):

Be it known that I, FREDERICK GASTON GASCHLIN, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing in the city and county of San Francisco, State ofCalifornia, have invented an Improvement in Letter-Boxes; and I herebydeclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of thesame.

My invention relates to the general class of boxes adapted to receiveletters, newspapers, packages, and other mail-matter and bills,accounts, and documents usually left at offices, residences, and otherestablishments.

The object of my invention is to provide a letter or other receiving boxadapted to readily receive and dispose of the matter inserted andthereupon to close itself and so confine the matter deposited that itcannot under any circumstances be withdrawn, nor can it be reached whenthe receiving-aperture is open, so that said box may be properly termedan automatic safety letter-box.

My invention consists of the parts and the constructions andcombinations of parts which I shall hereinafter fully describe andclaim.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front view of mybox. Fig. 2 is a vertical'section of the same on line y y of Fig. 1.Fig. 3 is a section through the receiver on line as a: of Fig. 2.

A represents a box having in the upper portion of its front a receivingopening or aperture a. Within the box is the tilting receiver B, thefront of which is open, as shown. This receiver is pivoted at its endsin the ends of the box and is adapted to turn through approximately aquarter of a circle from a position substantially horizontal or slightlyinclined backwardly, in which position its open front coincides oralines with the opening a of the box, to a position approximatelyperpendicular, in which its open front is lowermost. The receiver is sopivoted or so weighted that its normal position is perpendicular orapproximately so, so that its contents will be discharged into the box.

0 is the front guard-plate, having end arms 0 extending inwardly andpivoted about the same pivotal center as that upon which the receiver Bswings. This plate is adapted to Serial No. 587,898 (No model.)

move upwardly through an arc of a circle, extending in its upwardmovement under the top of the box A, and in its downward movement beingadapted to close the entranceaperture a of said box, its downwardmovement being limited by coming to rest upon a ledge a on the front ofsaid box.

A connection is formed between the front guard-plate C and the tiltingreceiver B of such a character that when the front guardplate is liftedin order to expose the entranceaperture a the receiver will be broughtup to its approximately horizontal position, so as to aline its openfront with said opening a, and when said front plate is brought downagain it will cause the tilting receiver to swing downwardly to itslowermost or approximately perpendicular position, or said receiver maybe heavy enough, as before stated, to swing down by gravity to saidposition, in which case the front guard-plate, by reason of itsconnections with the receiver, will be brought down to its closedposition. The connections between these two parts may be of any suitablecharacter to accomplish these objects, but the simplest and best form ofthese connections I have here shown as consisting of levers D, pivotedwithin the ends of the box at the points cl. The inner extremities ofthese levers are connected by links E with the rear portion of thetilting receiver, while the other ends of said levers are connected bylinks F with the arms 0 of the front gu ardplate 0.

The relative lengths of the portions of the levers D on each side oftheir pivotal points are such as to provide for the necessary differencein the lengths of movements of the receiver and the front guard-plate,for the latter need only move through a sufficient arc to expose and toagain recover the front guard-plate, while the former, that is to say,the receiver, must move through a longer are to the limits of its twopositions.

The operation of the parts as far as described is as follows: In thenormal position the front guard-plate is down and covers the thereceiver is in its approximately perpendicular position within the box.Now to deposit a letter or other matter the front guardplate is liftedto expose the opening a in the box, and is held in a lifted position,and this movement of the front guard-plate, through its connections, asdescribed, will cause the tilting receiver to turn to an approximatelyhorizontal position, preferably slightly inclined backwardly anddownwardly, with its open front alined with the opening a, so that theletter or other matter maybe placed within the receiver. As soon as itis so placed the front guard-plate may be pulled down again, or byreleasing it the parts may return to a normal posit-ion by gravity,'inwhich position the front opening a is again closed, while the receiveris so tilted that its contents .will fall by gravity out its open frontinto the box A.

Minor details of construction contributing to the general utility andadvantage of my box may now be noted.

In order to prevent the insertion of a letter on top of instead ofwithin the receiver as the latter rises, I secure a guard-flange G tothe top front of the receiver. This guardflange comes up behind theopening a just as the front guard-plate 0 begins to expose said opening,so that as the exposure continues the guard-flange G is traveling behindthe opening a and only exposes said opening at the time when the openend of the receiver comes into alinement therewith. If it were not forthis guard-flange, a partial exposure of the opening a by the lifting ofthe front guard-plate, and before the receiver arrives in position,would induce the depositor to insert his letter before it was time to doso, and instead of falling into the box it would simply pass in on topof the receiver; but the guardfiange protects the opening until themouth of the receiver comes into place.

In order to assistthe opening of the guardplate G, I provide its loweredge with an outwardly-extending flange c, and I provide the top of thecover of the box A with an outwardly-extending flange a so that byplacing the fingers upon the latter flange and the thumb under theformer flange and pressing the thumb up toward the fingers theguardplate can be readily opened.

The interior of the tilting receiver I make with a few surface ridges12, both top and bottom, the object of which is to reduce the frictionalsurface of said receiver, so that the matter placed within it will haveless tendency to stick or bindtherein, and will fall out into the boxthe more readily when the receiver is tilted. These ridges also tend tolessen the effect of any sticky substance which may be inserted withinthe receiver for the purpose of causing the letters to adhere.

The door by which access is had to the interior of the box may be placedin any suitable position, either on the front of the end thereof, as maybe desired, and may be locked by suitable devices, but in cases wherethe boxes are used for offices and private families and require theapplication of a name-v card I provide for security by the followingconstruction The door I is provided with an opening which is coveredwith open lattice-work 1', and just above this opening the door isdepressed or recessed at t", the ends of said recess being closed, butthe top and bottom open. A glass plate J is slipped down through thisrecess in suitable guides and supports behind the door, and so extendsacross said recess and the underlying lattice-work. A name card or plateK is now slipped in behind the glass and is backed by the rear wall ofthe recess. If now the glass-in front of the name plate or card bebroken, the back wall of the recess will still prevent access to thematerial of the box, while thelower portion of the glass is protected bythe lattice-work, and if broken the box cannot be entered because ofsaid lattice-work.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desiretosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. A letter or other receiving box comprising a casing or box having areceiving-opening and a ledge a, a curved front guard-plate swingingwithin the box and adapted to suecessively expose and cover saidopening, a receiver centrally pivoted within the box, connectionsbetween said guard-plate and the rear end of the receiver, adapted asthe 2. A letter or other receivingbox compris ing a casing or box havinga receiving-opening, a tilting receiver pivoted within the box andhaving an open front adapted to be brought into alinement with thereceivingopening of the box, a swinging guard-plate adapted to cover andto uncover said opening successively, a curved flange on the front endof the receiver adapted to temporarily cover the box-opening precedingthe alinement of the open front of said receiver therewith, andconnections between said guard-plateand the tilting receiver adapted asthe former uncovers the receiving-opening of the box to bring the latterup to position to cause its open front 7 to alinewith said opening, andas thefront guard-plate covers said opening to turn the receiverdownwardly within the box to discharge its contents therein, saidconnections consisting of levers pivoted inthe box at the rear ends ofsaid, levers withthe receiver,

and links connecting theforward ends of said levers with the frontguard-plate.

3. In a letter or other receiving. box, the combination of a box havinga receiving-open ing, a tilting receiver pivoted within said box.

points between their-ends, links connecting and having an open frontadapted to be brought into alinement with the opening of said box, saidreceiver having also a guard flange at its open front adapted totemporarily cover the opening of the box preceding the alinement of thefront of the receiver therewith, a front guard-plate adapted toalternately expose and to cover said opening, said guard-plate havingarms extending into the box and swinging from the same pivotal center asthat of the receiver, and connections between the front guard-plate andthe receiver adapted as the former uncovers the receiving-opening of thebox, to bring the latter up to position to cause its open front to alinewith said opening, and as the front guard-plate descends to cover saidopening to turn the receiver downwardly within the box to discharge itscontents therein. 7

4. In a letter or other receiving box, the combination of a box havingareceiving-openin g, a tilting receiver pivoted within said box, andhaving an open front adapted to be brought into alinement with theopening of said box, a front guard-plate adapted to alternately exposeand to cover said opening, said guard-plate having arms extending intothe box and swinging from the same pivotal center as that of thereceiver and connections between the front guard-plate and the receiveradapted as the former uncovers the receiving-opening of the box to bringthe latter up to position to cause its open front to aline with saidopening, and as the front guardplate descends to cover said opening, toturn the receiver downwardly within the box to discharge its contentstherein, said connections consisting of levers pivoted in the box atpoints between their ends, links connecting the rear ends of said leverswith the receiver at points in rear of its center of movement, and linksconnecting the forward ends of said levers with the side arms of thefront guard-plate.

5. In a letter or' other receiving box, the combination of abox having areceiving-opening, a tilting receiver mounted within said box and havingan open front adapted to be brought into alinement with the receiving-

